Amendment 64 Passes in Colorado Making Marijuana Legal for Recreational Use

In what many in favor of legalized marijuana are calling a historical precedent, voters in the state of Colorado passed Amendment 64 on Tuesday night’s election. The amendment allows for the legal use recreational use of marijuana adults 21 years old or older. The passage of Amendment 64 makes Colorado the first state to end marijuana prohibition in the United States.

It should be noted, however, that federal law still currently holds that the marijuana use is illegal, so there are still some issues to work out before the recreational marijuana will find its way into local stores for sale. Experts indicate that it will likely take as much as a year before the drug will be available under the amendment.

Tuesday was the second time that legal marijuana appeared on the ballots for Colorado voters. In 2006 the amendment was voted down, but this time amendment 64 has passed. Unlike the previous amendment which only removed the legal penalties for the use of marijuana, Amendment 64 also includes a full plan to legalize, regulate and tax the sales of the legal marijuana.

Those in favor of the amendment are hopeful that the result will be increased revenue and decreased crime rates related to the sales and use of marijuana. According to the terms of Amendment 64, the marijuana will be sold in small amounts to adults and taxed and regulated similar to alcohol and tobacco. Analysts have projected that tax revenue will be between $5 million and $22 million a year.

Time will tell, but certainly what happens in Colorado will be watched closely, and if it does show the anticipated drop in crime and boost in revenue, other states will likely add the measure to ballots for their voters.